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Tuesday, 8 May 2012

a lucky find....and a goodbye

Hello lovelies, I hope the sunshine has visited you today, it's been lovely here, hooray!

I love the style of illustrations from the 60s and 70s, and since having my own kids I have really enjoyed rediscovering picture books from my own childhood, and finding new gems from past and present. I have built up quite a collection of special books which will still be on my shelves long after my kids have left home!

The other day I was out for a rare child free potter round the shops, and while browsing one of my many local charity (sorry I just can't get used to calling them thrift!) shops, I came upon a pile of school reading books from the 70s; a lot of them were nothing special, but I'm glad I looked through them all because my goodness there were some treats hiding in there....

Aren't they lovely? Each book has lots of different stories with different styles of illustration, and none of the illustrators are properly credited, there's just a list of names at the beginning of each book. M has been struggling with his reading - partly because the books they give him at school are boring - but he's enjoying working his way through these stories, and when he's finished with them I think I'll be cutting them up and framing my favourite pictures.

While writing this I found out that Maurice Sendak has died at the age of 83, so goodbye and thanks to him. Where The Wild Things Are is one of my all time favourite books. RIP Maurice, you were a totally unique and precious talent who brought a bit of wildness and joy into millions of childrens lives. Hope you've had a lovely, happy, colourful day. Rachel x

Oh Col, I don't know what I'd do without charity shops! There are loads where I live, I find all kinds of goodies and of course they make loads of money for lots of good causes. Maybe you should start Cape Town's first charity shop!?

Hi lovely, yes my heart skipped a beat when I found them! All different and gorgeous in their own ways. And so nice that my boy is enjoying reading finally, it's taken ages but I think he's starting to get how fun it is! xx

Such lovely pictures. my favourite Maurice Sendak book was 'In the Night Kitchen' Was listening to the radio this evening & they were saying that it caused a huge fuss when it first came out because it is obviously based on a nightmare & the little boy in the book is naked. Finn and I still read it even though he has officially given up picture books. I, however, will never give them up!

Hi Karen, I love 'In the Night Kitchen' so much, we don't actually have our own copy but I must get one. Apparently it's still one of the most commonly banned children's books in the US! No, I have given up a few habits in my life so far, but picture books will always be a happy (never guilty!) pleasure! xx

Me too! I particularly love the trees in the background of that one. Those books were so cheap, and have made me so happy just looking at all those lovely pictures. It really is the simple and unexpected things that make life fun! x

I can see why you liked these books, they're gorgeous and some of the patterns are similar to vintage fabrics. The first one and the one with the goat on the hill are my faves.

I have a growing stash of childrens books too, some of my own ones from when I was a kid and lots of op shop ones. A couple of months back I found one that I had when I was little, all the way over here in Oz (not my exact one or that would be a flipping miracle). I'd never seen it anywhere else before and it bought back so many memories.

And it's so great that Max is enjoying reading them, that's lovely.Jo :)

Hi Jo, glad you like these illustrations, yes there's a lot of similarities between them and the kinds of patterns I like on fabric. I love rediscovering books from childhood, it is amazing how they evoke such strong feelings and memories. It must have been a great feeling to find a piece of treasure from your childhood all the way over in Oz! Rachel x

Great book finds. About a year ago I found a 70's book for my daughter, the illustration was great. However, once we got it home I found it might not be ideal for the small one - full of talk about Gypsys - in a certain tone and lots of pictures of people smoking!!

Yes it pays to read them before sitting down for story time - a lot of these older books may have lovely pictures, but the themes and plots often seem very inappropriate in our more enlightened times! The best thing in that case is to cut them up and frame the pictures for the kids room - though maybe not the ones of people smoking! :)

Hello, my lovely one, looking forward to seeing all these books in the flesh! I was sad to hear about M Sendak, too. All those little Maxes out there at least partly inspired by the wonderful 'Wild Things'. Kisses to the boys from their Nana!

Hi Ma! I would say keep an eye out for nice old kids books for me, but I don't think your rampant book buying needs any encouragement! Mind you, if you see a copy of 'In the Night Kitchen', Max does love it...I bet you'll be on Amazon within a minute of reading this! Kisses from your boys. xx

Hello Ruby Magpie, welcome and thanks for following me! Yes it really was an exciting moment when I opened the first book and realised what I'd found, treasure indeed! Love your name by the way, my Mum used to call me her Little Magpie when I was young, because of my treasure collecting habit! xx

Hiya, Thank you! That's exactly where my name came from haha! my mum still calls me a magpie even now! Like you, I just can't help being attracted to beautiful things, now there's no crime in that is there? ; ) xx

None at all, life would be so dull without lovely things around us! I love how we have managed to hold on to our childhood enthusiasm for collecting, and in my case I have definitely passed it on to my kids, they've both got a thing about little tins and boxes full of treasure! xx

My son Noah is a bit older now (going on 9) and is reading lots independently, but used to struggle to engage with the boring books at school. We had a word with his teacher and they agreed he could dispense with the dull Oxford Reading Tree and take in whatever he fancied. He never looked back and reading has become a real pleasure for him.We still read to him every night though - at his request! I love it. It will be a sad day when he finally decides he's too old for bedtime stories.

I love that balloon one too, the combination of bright colours and black line detailing is so 70s.

It's nice to hear of other kids who have overcome this reading block, Max is doing better but he still hasn't embraced the idea of reading being fun - I'm sure he will eventually though, our house is bursting at the seams with books and he loves them for the pictures - it's such a shame that school puts so many boys off with their boring books!

I love bedtime stories, I know a few parents who withhold bedtime stories as punishment if their kids have been difficult (I hate the word naughty!), but I always think it's the best way to make up after a bad day, I will be gutted when the kids are too old to want a story from us! x

Love the clouds in the toy shop picture! Makes me feel all nostalgic. Happy days, although to be honest that's a bit weird cos I probably wasn't even alive when these were printed, let alone old enough to read!I'm making myself out to be young here, I'm not. AnnaX

Hi Anna, I love that picture too, there is something so cheerful about it. I think looking at kids books takes us back to that feeling of security that we (hopefully, sometimes) had as children - even though my childhood was a bit chaotic, life seemed simpler then! And if you weren't alive when these were printed then you're definitely a bit younger than me, enjoy it! xx